Over the past two decades, Dr. Wells has been strong proponent of hearing conservation, both within and beyond the NHCA. Dr. Wells has represented the American Academy of Audiology on the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) since 2007; currently, she is the Vice-Chair of Education for CAOHC. She has provided occupational audiology services to local employers while employed at the University of Northern Colorado Speech-Pathology and Audiology Clinic. Her efforts are by no means confined to the United States: she has provided hearing conservation education and implementation in Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, India, Spain and the West Indies.

In 1999, Dr. Wells accepted the role of Secretary on the NHCA Executive Council; she remained on the council for the next seven years, serving as Vice-President, President-Elect, President, and finally Past President in 2007. During this time she planned and participated in multiple NHCA Excellence Seminars, acted as Program Chair for two consecutive conferences, contributed to and served as Associate Editor for the NHCA Spectrum, and served on multiple task forces within NHCA.

“Dr. Wells has selflessly donated her time and energy to our organization, and to the cause of hearing loss prevention. She exemplifies the ideals of the NHCA with her dedication,” said Laura Kauth, NHCA President and Chair of the Nominations Task Force.

Dr. Wells was also recognized as the 2011 Outstanding Lecturer for her thought-provoking presentation at the 2011 conference, titled “From Here to There to Hear”.

About the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA)

The mission of the NHCA is to prevent hearing loss due to noise and other environmental factors in all sectors of society. NHCA provides networking, resources and professional development opportunities to improve skills, practices, and services in hearing loss prevention. NHCA’s membership includes audiologists, researchers, industrial hygienists, educators, professional service organizations, safety professionals, medical professionals, engineers, audio professionals, students, and others who have dedicated their work to the advancement of hearing loss prevention. For more information about the National Hearing Conservation Association, visit the NHCA online athttp://www.hearingconservation.org/ or call 1-303-224-9022. Follow the NHCA on Twitter, on Facebook, and on LinkedIn.

For a second year, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in cooperation with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), is excited to announce a dedicated supplemental issue of the International Journal of Audiology. The issue highlights research presented at NHCA’s 36th Annual Conference in February 2011.

The studies highlighted include:

– Lessons learned from the use of new methodologies in studying hearing sensitivity after exposure to drug therapies that may cause hearing damage

– Potential barriers to implementing engineering noise controls in manufacturing NIOSH-supported research on major sources of noise in daily working life

– NIOSH-supported research on how different hearing protection devices perform across a wide range of impulse sounds

– The effectiveness of hearing protection-enhancement devices for gunshots

– The history and impact of the NIOSH and NHCA Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™

NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard noted that noise-induced hearing loss is a critical issue for all workers, stating, “The ability to hear can greatly impact a workers ability to do their job as well as their quality of life. Understanding the causes and how to effectively prevent noise-induced hearing loss is an important priority for NIOSH as we continue to look at total worker health.”

Additional support from this endeavor was provided by a grant by the Oticon Foundation, and financially underwriting by ASI Health Services; the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC), Etymotic Research Inc., HCI Hearing Conservation, Inc., HTI Inc. Mobile Audiometric Services, MED Compass, Mimosa Acoustics, and MobileEar Inc. Visit informahealthcare.com/toc/ija/51/S1 to view the special supplemental issue.

The 2012 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ will be presented at the 37th NHCA Annual Conference in New Orleans on Friday, February 24th, 2012. For information on the conference please go to www.hearingconservation.org . Nominations for the next round of awards will be accepted until September 1st, 2012. For further information please visit www.safeinsound.us.